Thousands of the Egyptian president's supporters surrounded the country's highest court on Sunday, to prevent judges from entering the building and reaching a verdict on the constitutional assembly.

On Thursday, President Mohamed Morsi released a final draft constitution that was passed by the constitutional assembly. However, the final decision is usually given to Egypt's judges, who were set to rule on the assembly on Sunday.

The Egyptian president caused uproar in the country when he announced a set of new powers for himself thirteen days ago, that effectively left him above the law.

Eleven members of the constitutional assembly resigned in protest and demonstrations spread across the country in numbers not seen since the ousting of ex-president, Hosni Mubarak. Judges also went on strike following Morsi's announcement.

Pro-government members of the assembly rushed in replacements for those that had resigned on Thursday in order to push through the new constitution.

However, Egypt's judges remain unhappy with the new powers assigned to the president and the way in which the constitution was forced through. They were expected to dissolve the assembly on Sunday before protests stopped their entrance to the court.

Opposition parties are now calling for acts of civil disobedience, as peaceful mass protests have been unsuccessful so far in changing the constitution.

Morsi announced plans on Sunday for a December 15 public referendum on the draft constitution. The president told Time magazine in an interview published on Thursday that he would backtrack on his new powers as soon as a new constitution was passed.